Cardinal Sarah Vigorously Defends the Traditional Mass

The Guinean cardinal, who will turn 80 next June, developed his reflection on the existence and presence of God, and on how they are linked to the current challenges facing the Church and society. He has provided an in-depth analysis of key themes of the Christian faith, including the liturgy, Eucharistic adoration, and the defense of Tradition.

Defense of the Traditional Mass

The former Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments vigorously defended the Traditional Mass, described as a pillar of the liturgical tradition of the Church. He even called any attempt to suppress this rite, whose spiritual richness has sustained the faith of generations of believers for 1,600 years, “an insult to the history of the Church and to Sacred Tradition.”

No doubt alluding to the rumors – well-founded – of this suppression, he added: “This project, if it is true, seems to me to be an insult to the history of the Church and to Scared Tradition, a diabolical project that seeks to break with the Church of Christ, of the Apostles and the Saints,” recalling all the saints who celebrated it. The cardinal stressed that this liturgy is not only a historical heritage, but also a vital means for the sanctification of the people of God.

He then affirmed that what was considered sacred by previous generations must remain so for the Church of today. He also stressed that the authority of the Pope is at the service of Sacred Tradition and affirmed that “he is not an absolute monarch,” but “the guarantor of obedience to the word handed down” by the Church over the centuries.

Necessity of Adoration

Cardinal Sarah also insisted on the need “to recover the sense of adoration and prostration in faith and awe before the mystery of God.” He noted that “the loss of the religious value of kneeling and the sense of adoration before God is source of all the fires and crises that shake the world and the Church... The world is dying for lack of worshippers!” he said.

In this line, he stressed that the Holy Mass should not become a social or cultural event, but should maintain its sacred character as the remembrance of the Lord’s death and resurrection.” Cardinal Sarah insisted that “the Eucharist is the most vital sacrament. It is the life of our lives. It is the most precious gift that we have inherited.”

Relativism and Faith

Addressing the crisis of the modern world, the high prelate described it as the consequence of a “dictatorship of relativism.” Cardinal Sarah warned that this phenomenon uproots society from fundamental values, promoting an individualism that leaves human beings at the mercy of their desires and far from the objective truth of Christ.

He also denounced the advance of a “new form of paganism that has desacralized man and his relationships.” He especially criticized the globalist ideologies promoted by institutions such as the United Nations, which try “to dictate utilitarian and inhuman agendas.”

The cardinal finally stressed that the Church must defend the life and dignity of every human being, especially the most vulnerable, such as the unborn, the elderly, the disabled and those who feel abandoned. He concluded by calling on Catholics to resist those who seek to redefine human nature and to recognize masculine and feminine identity as a gift from God.